Direct and indirect speech

Direct speech repeats someone’s exact words inside quotation marks: She said, “I am tired.” Indirect speech, also called reported speech, gives the meaning in your own sentence without quotation marks, usually with changes to tense, pronouns and time words: She said that she was tired.

In Indian school grammar, narration is the topic of reporting what someone said, which means changing direct speech into indirect speech and back. “Change the narration” is the same exercise as “change into indirect (reported) speech”. Outside grammar, narration also means telling a story.

Change the reporting verb where needed (said to → told / asked); remove the quotation marks and add a linking word (that, if, whether, or the question word); shift the tense one step back if the reporting verb is past; change pronouns to fit the new speaker; and change words of time and place (now → then, here → there).

When the reporting verb is in the present or future (He says, “I like tea” → He says that he likes tea); when the reported words are a universal truth, a scientific fact or a habitual fact (The earth moves round the sun); and when the direct speech is already past perfect. In speech, the tense is also often kept when the fact is still true now.

Change them to fit who is now speaking and listening. Many Indian grammar books teach this as the SON rule: first-person pronouns change to match the Subject of the reporting verb, second-person pronouns change to match the Object, and third-person pronouns make No change. So He said to me, “You are late” becomes He told me that I was late.

Words that point to the moment or place of speaking move away from it: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, last week → the week before, ago → before, here → there, this → that, these → those. If you report on the same day and in the same place, you can keep them.

Use asked (or enquired), drop the question mark and use statement word order. For yes/no questions add if or whether: “Are you ready?” → He asked if I was ready. For wh- questions keep the question word: “Where do you live?” → She asked where I lived, not “where did I live”.

Use a verb that shows the kind of command — told, ordered, advised, requested, begged — followed by the listener and to + the verb: “Sit down,” said the teacher → The teacher told us to sit down. For negatives use not to: “Don’t shout” → He told them not to shout. Please becomes requested.

Use exclaimed with a phrase that shows the feeling (with joy, with sorrow, with surprise) and turn the exclamation into a statement: “What a lovely view!” → She exclaimed that it was a very lovely view. “Alas! I failed” → He exclaimed with sorrow that he had failed. Interjections such as alas and hurrah are dropped.

Told needs a person after it; said does not. So: She told me that she was busy, or She said that she was busy, but not “She said me”. If the direct speech has said to + person, it usually becomes told + person in indirect speech.

No. In everyday English that is often left out after said and told: He said (that) he was tired. School exams usually expect it to be written, so include it in exercises. Do not use that before a reported question: “He asked that where I lived” is wrong.

When must means obligation it usually becomes had to: “I must go” → He said he had to go. When it expresses a deduction, a rule that is still in force, or advice, must can stay: “You must be tired” → She said I must be tired. Both are accepted in exams if the meaning is kept.

When let’s makes a suggestion, use suggested or proposed + that + subject + should: “Let’s go out,” he said → He suggested that they should go out. When let asks for permission (“Let me go”), use requested or asked: He requested that he might be allowed to go.

He said, “I am hungry” → He said that he was hungry. She said to me, “Are you free?” → She asked me if I was free. The teacher said, “Be quiet” → The teacher told us to be quiet. Ravi said, “I met her yesterday” → Ravi said that he had met her the day before. The examples table on this page has more.

Reverse the steps: use said or said to and put the words inside quotation marks; change the tense one step forward (was → is, had gone → went); change pronouns back to the speaker’s point of view; and restore time and place words (the next day → tomorrow). Restore the question mark or exclamation mark if the original was a question or exclamation.

Because summarising what someone said is reported speech. At the end of Interactive Listening you write a summary of a conversation, and it reads naturally only in reported form: “The student asked for an extension, and the tutor agreed to give her until Wednesday.” Correct backshift and pronouns also count towards grammar accuracy in Writing and Speaking.